Here we go again– another Olympics mascot is unveiled. This particular trilogy of terror are Miga, Quatchi and Sumi, a “sea bear,” a “young sasquatch,” and an, um, “animal spirit,” respectively. Here they are. The legend of Sasquatch has been cheapened, first by a beef jerky maker, now by the Olympic committee. Why not just make him a Webkinz and be done with it?

My ambivalence towards Olympic mascots is not something new. Here is a re-post of a February 2006 blog entry on an old neglected blog. I present them to you now, from 1968-2006, as if they were new and fresh. Summer mascots to follow in a separate post:

2006, Torino, “Neve” and “Gliz”: Two marshmallows?!? Ok, they are supposed to be “Snow and Ice,” but I still think the slogan should be “Give me s’more medals.”

Idk, I kind of dig them. They’re a bit more sophisticated, aesthetically speaking, then the others.. Some of the music’s a little on the lame side but.. I like the visual style.. and the mythology angle speaks more deeply to national identity I would think..

To be honest, the origins of this post are from the Torino Marshmallow kids. So yes, VOC’s choices aren’t the worst. But regarding the Sasquatch as cuddly just sounds dangerous to me, regardless of your fondness for beef jerky.

My major objection to the 2010 mascots is that they require explaining to everyone who sees them for the first time.

The marshmallow twins actually are worse, but this only proves that Olympic Comittees are incapable of learning from the lessons of history.

The 2010 critters seem cynical and exploitive, which of course makes them fair representatives for VANOC.

Animals would be a good solution: It’s not like our woods aren’t crawling with cute fauna. Heck, the fourth “sidekick” mascot is a Vancouver Island Marmot (wait–Vancouver isn’t on Vancouver Island–Shuttup!).

So would it be such a pain to have “Oly” the Otter and his buddies “Van” the Bighorn sheep and “Tena” the whodaheckcares?

Instead, they took semi-sacred spirit beasts and turned them into Hello Kitty. Instead of somehow being inclusive of native culture they seem insulting to me.

Of course, the whole idea of Vancouver residents having to put up with and pay for this fiasco so that Microsoft execs can pay $1200 a seat for the gold medal hockey round seems insulting to me. Maybe I’m just too sensitive.

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